Chapter 2228: Emilia’s Dream

Chapter 2228: Chapter 2228: Emilia’s Dream

"Let me see... the upright Sun, it seems like the result is quite good... I thought you would oppose my casual divinations again."

Miss Belindel smiled again and said to Shard, who felt quite strange:

"When have I ever opposed your divinations?"

"In my view, you and the Spea..."

She initially wanted to say "Speaker," but remembering Emilia was still here, she changed her words:

"You and my former superior are both the kind of people who, although you revere Fate, don’t like to casually interpret it."

Shard was very curious about how Miss Adel Isabella would react to the term "former superior," but he just smiled at the moment and then said to Emilia:

"Don’t feel too pressured. Before you moved into my house, you even encountered a Sage-Level Relic, but now it’s just a Poet-Level Relic. This indicates that the curse these cultists left on you has significantly weakened."

The Witch heard "moved into my house," while Emilia gently nodded, though she still felt in her heart that she was continuously troubling Shard.

After lunch, everyone began preparing to expel the relic. To ensure darkness, the windowless basement was the best environment. The Belindel Estate has a long history, with numerous basements used for various purposes, like wine and vegetable cellars. Ultimately, the Witch chose the basement at the southeast corner of the estate, which she used to temporarily store highly dangerous relics, though it was currently unoccupied.

After a slight cleanup, a pillow, a mattress, quilts, and a metal folding bed were brought in. Once Shard, Miss Belindel, and Emilia had entered, Miss Matilda waved to the three and then calmed the Little Unicorn, Leanna, before closing the door from outside.

Shard condensed a silver Light Orb in his hand to illuminate the surroundings. The Witch signaled the Elf Girl to lie down on the bed. She looked at Shard, feeling slightly embarrassed as she slipped under the covers:

"Well then, Miss Belindel, Mr. Watson, see you in a while."

Saying so, she obediently drank the pre-prepared Sleep Potion... actually just a potent Sleeping Potion, closed her eyes, lay down, and soon entered a dream.

Shard extinguished the Light Orb he had called forth, plunging the surroundings into complete darkness. Shard and Miss Belindel, both possessing "Dark Vision," sat down together by the bed, waiting for the relic’s effects to be triggered, able to see each other clearly even in the dark.

But he had to admit that in the oppressive darkness, Shard’s sense of smell became more acute. Evidence of this was that when the Witch leaned toward him, he could distinctly perceive the fragrance of her hair and perfume.

"I slept very well this morning."

The Witch said softly:

"I haven’t slept that comfortably in a long time."

She was satisfied to see the man in front of her somewhat at a loss for words. Shard didn’t know how to respond, but fortunately, she just wanted to see his reaction. Of course, her good sleep was genuine:

"When I woke up earlier, I saw you reading ’Mind Compass.’"

"Yes, for the Seventh Ring Ascension Words Rune, [Guidance] or [Direction]."

Shard responded quietly. In fact, even if he used [Dragon Roar] now, it wouldn’t wake the Elf Girl slumbering behind them. As for ’Mind Compass,’ it was a book given to him by the Thirteen-Ring Sorceress during the Green Lake incident, at that dusk when Miss Danester and he temporarily parted. That was in May, and now it’s mid-July. In nearly two months, although Shard has made some progress, it still hasn’t been enough to obtain the Spirit Rune.

"Guidance and direction, huh?"

She nodded gently:

"Perhaps I can offer you some help. My core Spirit Rune is a rare set of four: Enlightenment - [Eye][Guidance][Travel][Meter]."

Compared to Luviya’s core Spirit Rune - [Noble][Fate][Destroyer][Misfortune], Bella Belindel’s initial gifts as a Diviner were actually not outstanding. Her current achievements clearly owed not just to the conveniences brought by her identity as a Witch, but more to her own efforts.

"Back then, the teacher noticed my Guidance and Eyes, believing I possessed the talent for peering into fate and guiding the future. I don’t know who recommended ’Mind Compass’ to you; I admit it’s beneficial for acquiring the Guidance Spirit Rune, but it’s a bit too cumbersome and troublesome."

She chuckled in the darkness:

"There’s a more convenient way: try to lead someone’s fate, guide him or her onto the right path. The meaning of Guidance corresponds to the Four Elements, with different interpretations, but in my view, it’s the most convenient. Of course, if you’re merely guiding ordinary people, even if you work hard for a year, you won’t gain much. It’s the special fates that can earn extra rewards from fate."

In fact, this was one of the reasons why Luviya could quickly advance and gain power by witnessing the story of The Chosen One. Shard hadn’t thought that this method would also be beneficial to him:

"Guide The Chosen One? That’s a good idea, I’ve had intricate relationships with The Chosen Ones all along. If I think about it carefully, I haven’t deliberately guided anyone, merely watched stories unfold. But if I want to guide, then it’s not difficult, as long as..."

He was about to say more when suddenly he closed his mouth, for footsteps sounded in the basement.

It was impossible for there to be a fourth person beyond Shard, the Witch, and the Elf in here, yet the footsteps sounded so real to Shard. Even the most skilled Illusion Technique Master couldn’t simulate such perfect sound. Shard could even instantly imagine the position and posture of the "person" entering from the darkness just by the sound of the footsteps.

"It’s fake, all fake."

He thought to himself, while Emilia, who was sleeping on the bed behind them after consuming a sufficient amount of Sleeping Potion, showed signs of awakening.

However, this time the footsteps wouldn’t disturb the house upstairs, as upstairs it was still daytime, and daytime wouldn’t have "midnight footsteps."

Miss Belindel gently pinched Shard’s hand, stood up alone, and pressed her hand on her right shoulder. As the Source of Chaos embedded in her flesh was stimulated by her own spirit and began to glow, the Glimmer of the Yellow Moon temporarily lit up the area, and indeed there was no fourth person in the basement.

There are no restrictions on using Glimmer at night, but when creating a "Darkness" environment to trigger Relic effects, only the light of the Moon and Starry Sky is permitted, or it will disrupt the "night" causing the Relic to temporarily leave. In fact, Shard is more adept at using the Power of the Moon, but he has more important tasks.

Once confirming the Glimmer of the Yellow Moon ignited, the frequency of the footsteps briefly decreased. Shard quickly grasped Emilia’s hand that was about to awaken and, after drinking the Sleeping Potion from the reagent bottle in his left hand like Emilia did earlier, curled up like Miss Matilda from the morning on the ground, resting his head on the treated pillow where Emilia lay, falling into a deep slumber.

Thoughts fell in the dream, and Shard’s aim was to enter Emilia’s dream to stabilize her state. An important condition for banishing "midnight footsteps" is that the person entangled with the Relic must be in a sleep state, or else this Relic remains completely intangible.

The Potion’s effect was quite potent, and Shard felt almost dazed as he closed his eyes. When he "awoke," he found himself in a forest he had never seen before; snow covered the ground and trees, with a silver Moon overhead. He felt this Moon appeared because he was here.

It was currently Darkness, with the forest making a rustling sound in the not-so-strong night wind. The surroundings weren’t very clear, but that wasn’t due to weak Moonlight; it was because the owner of the dream was waking.

"Where’s Emilia?"

Shard was not like Dr. Schneider, a Dream Master, and was certain he’d face something in the dream he couldn’t resolve. But fortunately, this time the problem wasn’t too dire, as footsteps soon emerged from deep within the forest, followed by the Blonde Elf swiftly appearing before Shard:

"Shard, run quickly, it’s coming!"

She didn’t give Shard a chance to speak, grabbing his hand and pulling him deeper into the forest. Shard didn’t know what was pursuing them; he could only sense that as Emilia held his hand, the dream instantly stabilized somewhat.

This was also why Shard entered Emilia’s dream instead of Miss Belindel’s; compared to a Witch, an Elf Girl naturally trusted Shard more.

Initially, Emilia led Shard running, but soon it switched to Shard holding Emilia’s hand and running. Initially, Moonlight in the dream was quite faint, but after Shard appeared, the silver Moon brightly illuminated the seemingly boundless forest.

Shard didn’t understand why Emilia had this kind of chase dream; he initially thought it was a "horror dream," the kind where people are chased by something bad, which most people have experienced. Dr. Schneider specially mentioned this type in dream analysis while giving examples.

However, Shard soon realized his guess was wrong; this dream’s theme definitely wasn’t terror. Though he knew something was chasing them from behind, the dream did not become eerie or frightening as a result, nor did Shard, the dream’s Foreigner, instinctively feel any fear not belonging to him.

Most importantly, Emilia was actually smiling.

Moonlight illuminated dense trees in the forest, the Elf keeping pace with Shard as they ran together. They felt no fatigue, nor needed to worry about choosing their path forward; the trees and terrain seemed purposely arranged to create a channel for them to run forward without hesitation. All they needed was to hold each other’s hands and continue advancing.